Get Out The Vote, Scientifically
One of the biggest issues for a political campaign is how do you get your base out to vote. Two researchers took a look at this problem and looked at what effect phone calls had on getting citizens out to vote. The study targeted over 150,000 Pennsylvanian registered voters in 2008 who had only voted once between 2000 and 2008.
Would-be voters received one of three kinds of phone call: either they were encouraged to vote and reminded of their duty; they were asked whether they intended to vote; or they were asked more detailed questions about when, where etc they planned to vote. A control group received no phone call.
The news is that the “self-prophecy effect” — just asking a voter if they were going to vote — was not replicated. If a voter answered when and where they were going to vote, voting increased by 4.1%. If a voter was the sole voter in the household, voting increased by 9.1%.
Tags: Voting
You know what else works? Advocating policies that excite the base. Republicans know that GOTV trick. Democrats don’t.
Republicans keep using the trick because, you’ll notice, the policies they advocate never actually get implemented. They’ve been voting for anti-Roe v. Wade candidates for 40 years; no action yet. They’ve been voting for pro-school prayer candidates for 40 years; no action yet. They’ve been voting for small government advocates for 40 years; exact opposite occurred.
Get the picture here? The best way to keep a jackass in suspense…and keep him voting all the while…
They’ve been voting for anti-Roe v. Wade candidates for 40 years; no action yet. They’ve been voting for pro-school prayer candidates for 40 years; no action yet.
Not so; they are now just one Supreme Court vote away from achieving a number of conservative pipe dreams.
They’ve been voting for small government advocates for 40 years; exact opposite occurred.
“But this time we really mean it!!”
“they are now just one Supreme Court vote away from achieving a number of conservative pipe dreams”
They’re ALWAYS on the verge. They never get there. They’re the perfect illustration of Zeno’s arrow.
They’ve done a lot to eat away at the protections of Roe, however.
Obomba knows that advocating for policies that excite the base is good for getting elected. Too bad he was lying.
Yes, he’s clearly trying to not get elected. Everything he does is with the aim of losing his re-election, and bringing every Democrat down with him.
I”m sorry I compared you to a child last week. A child at least offers the promise of growing up.
Boom! That just happened!!
Anyhoo, It is in character for Dems to run to the left in primaries and I’m not saying that they should kowtow to nut-jobs like a1. I do think they could learn a thing or two about the power of creating a coherent political brand from Republicans.
They don’t have the balls for that, Jason. It would require them to raise money from real people instead of special interest groups (unlike the GOP, their hand is out to both unions AND corporations) and to take stances that might not set well with their swank-neighborhood neighbors.
A1 is right on his general principles. He realizes that liberals are lied to and counted upon by Democrats, and he’s fed up. I get that. But when you start saying Obama is trying to get Republicans elected, that’s just wrong — unless by “Republicans” you mean “Democrats like Tom Carper.” If that’s the case, A1, you should make it clearer. Because, as I hope even Ralph Nader now realizes, there are differences between even Tom Carper and, say, Jim DeMint, or anyone from Oklahoma.
By the way, the excited “base” in regards to Obama is synonymous with “black people.” They turned out to vote as seldom before. They aren’t going to get all jazzed up by the liberal stuff that floats our boats, and hence “the base” isn’t going to deliver in 2010. It’s that simple.
Anyone who hopes for the kind of “solidarity” Republicans supposedly enjoy — except when it’s Tea Time, apparently — must consider the fact that Republicans pay lots of attention to this stuff because they hate liberals, or anyone who challenges their world view, and what you hate you can’t ignore. Most Democrats, on the other hand, pay little attention to government because they’re too busy having lives. Hell, one disastrous term of W wasn’t enough to wake them up — you think they’ll turn out to vote over a Supreme Court candidate?
Geezer, I am from the “when your political opponent is drowning, throw him/her an anchor” school. Obomba would rather throw his opponents a life preserver while letting his supporters drown (see HCR, DADT, Kagan, Civil rights, torture prosecutions, drilling, and on and on…). Obomba clearly believes that trying to achieve “bipartisanship” is more important than good policy or telling the truth.
In regards to “the excited “base” in regards to Obama is synonymous with “black people.” That is one of the most ridiculous things that you have ever written. There are millions of disappointed liberals and democrats that were his base and are not black, including many young people who voted for the first time.
Or you could be like the labor unions, and herd workers on to buses, and strong arm them into voting for a Democrat.
A1: White liberals vote (for Democrats) at pretty much the same levels no matter the candidate. Black voters don’t. You could look it up.
FBH: Is that supposed to be a joke? How do you “strong arm” someone into voting against their wishes? LAst time I checked voting booths still had curtains on them.
You look it up, Geezer. It was new under-30 voters that came out in droves for Obama, not new black voters. The black vote was only up by 2% but:
“66% of under-30’s showed their support for Obama – far higher than in any previous election – compared to 31% for McCain.
A staggering 54% of young white voters also went for Obama.
Overall, this also helped Obama secure a high number of first time voters; 71% of whom voted Democrat.”
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1083335/Breakdown-demographics-reveals-black-voters-swept-Obama-White-House.html